There are many books on the Enneagram, and they often repeat one another. There are always the nine types and wisdom for how to find and engage with your type and learn from what it suggests. This book has less of the repetition, however, by moving into new ground in three ways.
First, the author is an interspiritual Unity minister, and so the pitch of her Enneagram interpretations is religiously and spiritually broader than some of the popular Christian teachers of this interesting tool. Second, Nhien Vuong is Vietnamese by birth and comes with a powerful story of being from an immigrant family finding its way in the United States; her talk of transformation is born out of firsthand experience that is more than spiritual.
Third, and most notable in our context as a realm of spiritual practice, are what Nhien Vuong calls “activations.” There are forty of them, filling the second half of the book, designed to carry the reader through a forty-day encounter with their Enneagram type. The author offers an interpretation of each “activation of your innate potential” for each of the nine types.
For example, the first is called “What Is Adorable About You” and summarized best when Nhien Vuong asks: “Are you willing to see yourself more clearly — to let go of any graven images of not-enough-ness and let Love embrace all of you as you are?” Then comes type-specific prompts or questions each for e1, e2, e3, e4, e5, e6, e7, e8, and e9.
These books are usually considered “self-help” but this one, like others on the Enneagram, may also be good to use with your good friend, significant other, parent, or adult child.
